How DRaaS can save your business

Generally, if something vital needs to be accomplished at an organization, business owners will try to find a way to get it done in house. It's often cheaper than outsourcing the task, and in most cases the end result is at least good enough.

This is simply not true for disaster recovery.

Disaster recovery solutions are plans that help ensure business continuity in the event of a major catastrophe. If some sort of tragic event causes the loss of data or vital applications, a solid DR platform can help bring everything back online in a timely fashion.

Many organizations believe their internal employees are up to the task when it comes to creating these plans, but most of them are sorely mistaken. To that end, let's explore the challenges facing companies that make their own disaster recovery solutions, as well as why Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) just makes sense.

A single disaster is all it takes

Before diving into the faults of in-house disaster recovery solutions, it's important that we take time to appreciate the immense danger companies face on a daily business. The reality of the situation is that a company's livelihood is incredibly fragile. While most business owners know this, many don't truly understand how close they are to losing their companies.

According to figures from the Red Cross, 40 percent of companies don't reopen following a major disaster. The reasons for these closures vary, as this percentage comes from every single industry, but the message is clear: A lack of preparedness can cost you everything.

For those reliant on computer systems, a good example as to why so many businesses close after a disaster is the cost of network downtime. Garter found that the average cost of downtime to a company is roughly $300,000 every single hour. With so much to lose, relying on unexperienced in-house employees to create a disaster recovery solution from scratch starts to seem like a bad idea.

Most companies aren't ready

Sadly, many organizations are under the impression that any plan at all is good enough to prepare them for the worst. Of course, this simply isn't the case. The fact of the matter is that many companies are relying on a plan that won't actually help them fully in the event of a catastrophe.

According to a study conducted by the Disaster Recovery Preparedness Council, 73 percent of those surveyed received a failing graded in terms of their disaster recovery solution. While that fact should shock and terrify business owners, the truly scary aspect of this is exactly what those unprepared companies lost when faced with disaster.

The survey found that 36 percent of respondents lost vital applications, data or VMs for hours on end within the past 12 months. On top of that, one in five had lost at least one of these within the past few days. At a time when customers demand constant uptime of the services provided to them, the rate at which the average organization is losing overall function is alarming.

Clearly, there is an enormous amount to lose when in comes to implementing a disaster recovery solution. Therefore, it simply makes sense to leave such an important task to the experts.

Testing is vital

Although the actual creation of a disaster recovery plan demands expertise, the real reason DRaaS is so enticing is how vendors help ensure the security of a company's business continuity. To do this, DRaaS providers often test the solutions they come up with.

This is something that organiztions that create plans in house generally don't do. The same study from the Disaster Recovery Preparedness Council found that only a third of companies with a disaster recovery plan test their solution every year. What's more, nearly a quarter of those surveyed never test their plan at all.

However, the true issue here is how few end up with a successful product. Of the companies that did test their plans, 65 percent ended up failing. This incredibly high failure rate shows that a vast majority of organizations don't have the right disaster recovery plan in place.

DRaaS can help

Although it may be your first instinct to solve every problem your company has in house, the reality of the situation is that outside vendors can often do better than your employees. This isn't to say that your workers aren't talented. Rather, they just don't have the skills necessary to properly implement a successful plan. If they did, you'd be in the DRaaS business.

That being said, the most important aspect of invvesting in a DRaaS solution is finding the right vendor. Thankfully, there's an easy choice in the form of UbiStor. We have years of experience creating the best disaster recover platforms on the market, and we can help ensure your company's business continuity.